(VOVworld) - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said after meeting his Russian, Ukrainian and French counterparts in Berlin on Saturday that "significant progress" had been made towards a resolution of the conflict between Kiev and Moscow.

Steinmeier said Ukraine and Russia were close to striking an agreement on the withdrawal of weapons and facilitating the operation of observers of the Organization for Security and Co-operation. This meeting was also preparation for the next meeting between 4 countries in early October in Paris.

At a summit on Ukraine in February in Belarus, the participants agreed to put an end to conflicts. Violence reduced in eastern Ukraine after a cease fire came into effect on September 1 and Ukraine’s parliarment supported granting autonomous power to the opposition.